YOGA – Το YIN στο YANG του CROSS FIT
Take a look at social media (facebook, instagram, twitter etc). I have the impression that we are going through the period with the most selfies of abdominal… and fit bodies…. In times of crisis, where we all face very difficult days, with the stress of a permanent partner and junk food in larger doses “because poverty wants a good time”, the tendency to return to a healthier lifestyle combined with exercise, is growing rapidly. . The fact that many new and different forms of sport have emerged dynamically – turning classic gymnasiums with instruments and treadmills into a “monument” of the past – now make exercise more and more accessible to every age group.
This time I stood at Cross Fit. A form of exercise that has made the big bang in the last 5 years. And if anything can be considered explosive… yes .. this is Crossfit. .. Sport or just a new training system ??? Many people called it men’s gymnastics. Crossfit contains Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics, weight lifting, athletics, rowing and many other multi-joint exercises, which are usually combined in a “random” way and performed with a key competitor in the time or number of repetitions. And his fans are fanatics… and growing ..
As a yogi and with the philosophy that everything in yoga should be done slowly, safely, aware of our body and of course enjoying as much as possible the journey and learning during our evolutionary course, to have a competitor time with went back… somewhere there in high school and university exams… Lots of stress for no reason… You will tell me a little adrenaline is not bad! Views! Respected all!
So I attended several crossfit classes… and although yoga & crossfit have many and even substantial differences, I quickly realized that the practice of yoga can help, evolve and eventually become the stepping stone that will help crossfit athletes “climb level ”.
Many Cross Fitters wonder why they should do yoga when they can simply add some stretching before and after WOD’s. But Yoga is not just stretching!
By choosing the right program (something I have already implemented) the strength of the athletes but mainly their endurance to fatigue increases (believe me I have seen many times, people who lift 120 & 180 kg to stop the program to rest because they “burned” their shoulders). Their flexibility improves immediately and continuously so that they can perform the exercises more efficiently and with less fatigue. This is because the elasticity gained by the muscles and tendons drastically reduces the “stress” they receive in the maximum trajectories of the exercises. The recovery of the muscles becomes faster, the concentration of the athletes is much better while their breathing becomes more correct and with a greater range ..
Result; Better overall image and performance ..
Cross Fit athletes in the US and especially in the West Coast have long not only “matched” Cross Fit with Yoga but in fact consider it a necessary combination in gyms in California, LA, San Francisco, Nevada and beyond. . To be honest, even after my own approach, I found it difficult to disagree with their point of view. Although I believe that both techniques are much more complex than is usually considered, I am now convinced that the cross fitter who seeks the maximum results from himself and his training, should try yoga. Why, for Cross Fit athletes, incorporating yoga into their practice gives the perfect YIN to their high-intensity YANG…
In every WOD (workout of the day) of Cross Fit the goal is to complete the program using and constantly increasing your strength with exercises that very often “take your breath away”. And time runs… ..Power, concentration and speed.
In each Yoga class you “find your breath again”, you help your body to “come back” after a very strenuous workout and your muscles to relax and prepare for the next time. Time does not matter. Strength, concentration combined with intense stretching, flexibility but also mental and physical relaxation.
The strength of our core, the correct posture of the torso, the spine and the balance are elements of both Cross Fit and the practice of YOGA that have the main advantage of minimizing injuries.
In fact, balance is one of the 10 basic qualities that are particularly emphasized in the definition of CROSS FIT by Greg Glassman… and yoga is the absolute synonym of balance. Internal and external, which at the same time brings you fully aware of your body and its capabilities.
In Crossfit the exercises are done so fast, – we said the clock is running – that most of the time the correct technique and posture of the body is lost in the vortex of speed. Practicing yoga we have time to focus on the muscle group that works every time, to breathe through different parts of our body, to understand what and how we do it and finally to do it better
More and more Crossfit Boxes in America are providing yoga classes to their students. And the results are obvious and immediate. They have already been recorded and are accepted by both sides. Two different mentalities – Yoga & Cross Fit that finally come to complement each other.
There are many articles that have been published as well as the reasons that suggest or even “force” Cross Fit athletes to do Yoga. Flexibility and stretching, strength, breathing and relaxation techniques, understanding and consciousness of our body, correct posture, concentration, balance… And above all loss of competition. There is no competition in yoga. We do not need him. We leave him for WOD’s later and invest in the “relationship” between YOGA & CROSSFIT which is evolving rapidly.
The first result… YOGIWOD in San Francisco. I found it amazing.
And I’m sure all cross fitters who do yoga will understand me.
Irene Damanaki
Yoga Educator
